PERCEPTION OF IRAQI PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS ABOUT HERBS IN PRACTICE (Published)
Objectives: To study the level of knowledge , attitude and practice of primary health care providers about herbs , and their relation with certain demographic variables Methods : A cross sectional study was conducted using questionnaire administered to Health Care providers at ten Primary Health Care Centers in Baghdad. Results: Four handed participants were recruited, the most common source of knowledge in the medical group were books , while the paramedical group were getting their knowledge mostly from media, attitude of the medical group was neutral (53%) while among paramedical group attitude was positive (65%), the most common purposes for using herbs were energy boosting and preventive. Conclusion: healthcare providers in Baghdad have positive attitude toward herbs, but their knowledge about it is poor; and this is more evident in the paramedical group especially those with lower educational level. Those with higher knowledge about herbs had higher attitudes toward it
Keywords: Beliefs, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Herbal Supplements, Knowledge